Rumor: Next 15-inch MacBook Pro to Pack Retina Display
New display said to be 'jaw-dropping.'
Lately talk of an Apple-branded HDTV and the iPhone 5 has dominated as far as Apple rumors are concerned. However, today brings us an Apple rumor of a different breed, one that speaks of an Apple MacBook Pro with a 15-inch retina display.
9to5Mac cites 'trusted sources' from Apple's supply chain in reporting that contrary to previous rumors, Apple's next 15-inch MacBook Pro will not feature a MacBook Air-like design. According to the site, Apple is instead opting for a slimmed down, more robust version of the current MacBook Pro. Aside from a slimmed down design, this new MacBook Pro will feature a dedicated power button key on the keyboard (similar to the MacBook Air), USB 3.0, a distinct lack of optical drive, two USB 2.0 ports, two Thunderbolt-sized ports, and an SD card slot. However, the most interesting feature is the rumored presence of a Retina display.
Already present on Apple's iPhone 4 and iPad 3, the 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina Display is said to boast multiple resolution modes that allow the user to adjust the sharpness and image sizes to their liking via presets with names such as 'big,' 'small' or 'optimal.' This represents a huge departure from the usual numbered resolution modes that computers users are used to seeing but will no doubt make changing the resolution a lot more user-friendly for the less tech-savvy of users.
Along with the Retina display and support for USB 3.0, expect Intel's newest line of Core processors under the hood. Apple's OS X Mountain Line is scheduled for this coming summer, and, considering the iPhone 5 likely won't launch 'til September, we're wondering if Apple is going to have a MacBook Pro announcement fill the gap at WWDC. If that's the case, we don't have long to wait until we see this new MacBook Pro make a debut.

Mountain Lion.
That might not be good for battery life and can mean lots of heat. It also means that an already expensive laptop will cost more.
That said, I'm curious at the loss of the optical drive. If this is true of the 13" MBP as well, what will be the difference between it and the Air?
Stop doing compromises, Apple!
a) bluray was dying from the start. Digital distribution is the future.
b) The vast majority of users don't need an optical drive anymore. It's been years since I've last used the optical drive in my laptop.
c) Macs don't even need any physical media for OS installation anymore. They can boot some kind of recovery system embedded in EFI and download&install OS X straight from Apple servers even when the HDD is completely blank.
Maybe they want to make a fortune selling crazy expensive thunderbolt external optical drives to the isheeple who will pay extra for thunderbolt for devices that can't even saturate usb 3.
Article hints that there will no longer be an air model.
I have both laptops (apple and windows). The only time I use an optical drive is on the windows machine to install software. All apple software is download. The only time I have used an optical drive on my apple laptop is to burn a CD with music. And this because my car is old and doesn't have a connection for my Touch.
sorry your so offended by them calling it a Retina Display.
And Retina Display isn't just a marketing term. Every Retina screen is super high res. That's like saying Hyper-Threading is just a marketing term by Intel. It's a term that they use, but it also refers to a physical real world gain in performance.
The author of this article, and everyone other then Apple, has no idea what the actual specs of the MBP 15" Retina Screen will be. We don't know the resolution, we don't know if it's OLED, LEDIPS, etc. We don't know it's colour gamut. So any specs that are lacking that you feel is insulting you is lacking because it's simply not available. Stop whining and bitching about the author and apple, just because those are popular things to hate on
You are so mad.
May I point out that the 15" mbp has a lower native resolution than the industry standard for a high end 15" laptops which is 1080p. The 15" "High Res" screen is 1680 by 1050, while the regular mbp 15 is only at the sub-par 1440 by 900.
APPLE WINS AGAIN! KEEP WISHING YOUR $HIT WINDOZE BUDGET LAPTOPS FOR POOR PEOPLE HAD HALF AS GOOD OF TECH!